Former Tokyo Governor Candidate Ishimaru to Form Regional Party

Tokyo, Nov. 13 (Jiji Press)--Shinji Ishimaru, the runner-up in the Tokyo gubernatorial election in July, has said that he plans to form a regional political party ahead of the Japanese capital's metropolitan assembly election next summer.

In a YouTube video posted Tuesday, Ishimaru, former mayor of Akitakata in Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, said that he will announce the details next month and that he wants to explain the plan at a press conference.

He called on people interested in becoming metropolitan assembly members to begin preparations, saying, "Let's move Tokyo together."

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